Casino Night- Part I

THE RIPPED OUT PAGE FROM THE NOTEBOOK KAYNE WROTE THE NIGHT BEFORE THE CASINO 

[Private Note – Not for Record (obviously) | Ink Uneven | Margin Torn and ripped out of the MZ Investigation Notebook]

I cannot believe she filed me.

Not argued with me.

Not cornered me.

Not flayed me in the Hall of Speakers like a proper Sigilian spat.

She bloody filed me.

• Procedural overreach.

• Improper surveillance.

• Misapplication of authority.

All clean. All airtight. All by-the-book enough that Father signed the restriction without blinking and I’m barred from Kerberous Shadowdusk permanently.

Not from her.

From him.

(sigil cursing words and illegible few sentances then a long space…) 

That detail is needling me like a rusted spike in the Hive… She could’ve pushed for distance from herself. Could’ve made it personal in the record. Could’ve Mazed me by reputation if she’d wanted.

But no.

She clipped my wings around the clueless boy-toy shadow asshat and left the rest untouched. 

This isn't jealousy because:

That’s not retaliation. That’s precision. FUCK HER 

(noticeable difference in penmanship occurs, perhaps after a drink…) 

(space left on the page between notes.. Was it weeks or days?.. Hard to tell but its still on the same page) 

At first I was livid. Proper sodding furious. I’ve been tailing threads through the Hive, chasing whispers in the Lower Ward, doing the legwork while most Guvners sit in the Hall polishing statutes — and she writes me up like I’m some clueless tout who wandered too close to her parlor door.

But halfway through pacing this kip tonight it struck me:

She didn’t make the decision for me. She could have escalated. 

She had grounds. I blurred the line. I know I did..

Instead she forced the question back onto me.

Or does she know father and he's testing me somehow?

Am I pursuing a lead?

Or am I pursuing her?

That’s the dark of it.

[Next page but same pen was used to write… As if he tried to walk away from himself but couldn’t  because it was inconclusive still.] 

The evidence trail was dust. I knew it. Every case I pulled on her ended the same — false leads, corrective action, net civic benefit. No cult-building. No jink siphoning. No shadow syndicate. Just her moving toward planar rot like it’s her personal hobby. Because it is! 

And I kept tailing her.

Not because she was guilty.

Because she was interesting!

Because she unsettled me. She still does…

Because every time she closed a rift or unbound some poor sod’s curse without taking a single copper, it didn’t fit the narrative I wanted her to fit. I wanted her to be evil? And I realize that’s not it either. It's because I like her. There it is. I like a Dark.

Gods help me… Could she be an ally? wait... [new pen was used here]

I respect one of the Darks. How do I not care now? Let my feelings go? 

No. I don't dare. Somehow I also am reminded of that girl Farryn and I don't know why.

I don’t date. I don’t even court. I know father will one day set a date for me and DN

Most berks in this burg are walking liabilities wrapped in secrets. I audit, I file, I go home. That’s the rhythm. And then there’s her. Black-veined, sharp-tongued, stepping through the Hive like it’s a cathedral she’s quietly repairing brick by brick. She knows. 

That’s the worst… (or best?) part. She knows I’m not building a case anymore. She clocked it before I did! She saw that I was looking for something that wasn’t in the files. And instead of humiliating me in person, instead of playing coy in some back-alley tea den, she went lawful. She put it on parchment.

Brilliant really. That's something I would do. 

She forced me to confront myself in the one language I respect… record. That's what made it real. She knows me… 

Does she want me to stop? -- Because she hates me, I'm sure of it. She has to right?

Or does she want to see if I choose to stop? -- Is this her test?

[ another change in penmenship ] 

If I continue now, it’s not duty.

It’s obsession.

And if I stop?

It’s because I decided to, not because she barred the door.

That’s infuriatingly appealing. Even sober. 

She didn’t cut the thread between us.

She cut the one I was hiding behind.

And now I have to decide if I’m a Guvner chasing phantoms…

Or a man who’s been quietly hoping the dangerous, brilliant, Dark in the violet glass house might look at me and see more than just an auditor.

Sodding Hells.

I think she already does.

I'll have to think on this a while…

[ another pen later in scribbles like it was a dreamy after thought he doesn't want to believe ]

What does father want me to find out about her?

THE FINAL PAGE -- CASINO NIGHT: PART 2

Meta Note: Kerberos is in Sigil right after Witchlight with our old characters including Maryn'bl. Kayne, already has investigated them and per Director been unassigned. This is to protect the future campaign so that it remains "as is". You have the only character that had enough legal power to disrupt that campaign, so this already already been limited. Kayne cannot be the one to 'report' on him or his alliances (whatever they may be). Effectively, Kerberos can do and say whatever the fuck he wants in FF and we can't touch him until CC game in the future.

• Kerberos 
• Oli
• Jameson
• Baji

All have keys to the Thornhouse.